Back to Home

Physics HL

Sciences

26

Credit Policies

5.0

Avg. Min Grade

$29,804

Total Potential Savings

Universities Accepting Physics HL

University of Ottawa

Ottawa, ON

Min Grade: 5
PHY 1121 + PHY 1122 (6 units)
Save $1320

Expert's Insight: That 5 gets you out of PHY 1121 and 1122, but the first-year labs at uOttawa are a different beast. Your IA was a practice run; their grading is the real, unforgiving exam.

York University

Toronto, ON

Min Grade: 5
SC/PHYS 1411 3.0 + SC/PHYS 1412 3.0 (6 credits)
Save $1458

Expert's Insight: Expert's Take Two separate 3.0-credit course exclusions at York: SC/PHYS 1411 Physics Fundamentals 1 and SC/PHYS 1412 Physics Fundamentals 2. Each is described in York's handbook as "One term. Three credits," and together they cover a calculus-based survey of mechanics, waves, electricity and magnet...

University of Waterloo

Waterloo, ON

Min Grade: N/A
No transfer credit at Waterloo (any score)

Expert's Insight: Waterloo's PHYS 111/121 sequence is a different beast than IB Physics HL. Your 5 means you start from scratch, and the first-year labs are designed to be a reality check.

McGill University

Montreal, QC

Min Grade: 5
PHYS 101 + PHYS 102 (8 credits)
Save $3360

Expert's Insight: Expert's Take McGill grants 8 credits for IB Physics HL (score of 5+), exempting you from both PHYS 101 and PHYS 102. This is McGill's non-calculus introductory physics sequence. For most faculties this is generous and straightforward, but if you're heading into a Physics major or Engineering, the i...

Memorial University of Newfoundland

St. John's, NL

Min Grade: 4
Physics 1020 + Physics 1021
Save $1350

Expert's Insight: Expert's Take IB Physics HL with a minimum score of 4 is awarded as Physics 1020 plus Physics 1021 (six credit hours), the algebra-based first-year sequence at Memorial (official IB transfer credit chart). The award is automatic once the IB transcript is received; what matters is whether the algebra...

Queen's University

Kingston, ON

Min Grade: 5
PHYS 117 (6.0 units)
Save $1398

Expert's Insight: Expert's Take Queen's awards PHYS 117 (6.0 units) for IB Physics HL with a score of 5 or higher, in every faculty except Smith Engineering, which grants no credit. PHYS 117 is a full-year, algebra-based introductory physics course that includes a lab component. It satisfies the physics requirement f...

Queen's University (Faculty of Arts and Science)

Kingston, ON

Min Grade: N/A
PHYS 117 (6.0 units) — Arts/Sci/Commerce/Nursing; 3.0 units Health Sci; No credit Engineering

Expert's Insight: Expert's Take IB Physics HL earns PHYS 117 (6.0 units) across most faculties, but this is the algebra-based introductory sequence, not the calculus-based PHYS 104/106 that any student pursuing a Physics degree plan actually needs. The credit is real and non-trivial in Arts, Science, Commerce, and Nu...

Queen's University (Health Sciences (BHSc))

Kingston, ON

Min Grade: 5
PHYS 117 (3.0 units)
Save $699

Expert's Insight: Expert's Take Queen's awards PHYS 117 (6.0 units) for IB Physics HL with a score of 5 or higher, in every faculty except Smith Engineering, which grants no credit. PHYS 117 is a full-year, algebra-based introductory physics course that includes a lab component. It satisfies the physics requirement f...

Queen's University (Smith Engineering)

Kingston, ON

Min Grade: N/A
NO CREDIT

Expert's Insight: Expert's Take Queen's awards PHYS 117 (6.0 units) for IB Physics HL with a score of 5 or higher, in every faculty except Smith Engineering, which grants no credit. PHYS 117 is a full-year, algebra-based introductory physics course that includes a lab component. It satisfies the physics requirement f...

Western University

London, ON

Min Grade: 5
Physics 1501A (0.5 cr) + Physics 1502B (0.5 cr) = 1.0 credit
Save $1440

Expert's Insight: Expert's Take IB Physics HL earns Western’s calculus-based enriched physics sequence — not a generic credit. The award maps directly to Physics 1501A (Enriched Introductory Physics I) and Physics 1502B (Enriched Introductory Physics II). Together, the Western Academic Calendar notes this...

University of Saskatchewan

Saskatoon, SK

Min Grade: 5
PHYS 115.3 + PHYS 117.3 = 6 credit units
Save $1554

Expert's Insight: Expert's Take IB Physics HL earns two named course equivalencies at USask, not generic junior credit. The award of PHYS 115.3 and PHYS 117.3 is editorially significant: both are specific, named first-year courses rather than unspecified physics credit, which means they appear on your transcript with...

Carleton University

Ottawa, ON

Min Grade: 5
PHYS 1107 (0.5) & PHYS 1108 (0.5)
Save $1365

Expert's Insight: Carleton awards IB Physics HL (minimum score 5) as PHYS 1107 (0.5) and PHYS 1108 (0.5), per the official IB advanced-standing table. The sharper question for STEM-bound students is whether those two awarded courses match what your degree actually requires, because PHYS 1107 and PHYS 1108 sit in a di...

Simon Fraser University

Burnaby, BC

Min Grade: 4
SFU PHYS 101 (3), Q/B-Sci; SFU PHYS 102 (3), Q/B-Sci
Save $1398

Expert's Insight: Expert's Take SFU grants PHYS 101 (3) and PHYS 102 (3) for IB Physics HL — 6 credits total, typically carrying Q/B-Sci designations. This clears the entire introductory physics sequence for life sciences students and satisfies both a quantitative and breadth-science requirement toward SFU's WQ...

University of Manitoba

Winnipeg, MB

Min Grade: 4
PHYS 1020: General Physics 1 (3) & PHYS 1030: General Physics 2 (3)
Save $1080

Expert's Insight: Expert's Take A score of 4 on IB Physics HL earns 6 credit hours at UM as the named pair PHYS 1020 and PHYS 1030 (the General Physics sequence, described in the catalog as using "little math and no calculus"). SL Physics is not on UM's chart and earns no credit. Per UM's Senate-approved Transference...

McMaster University

Hamilton, ON

Min Grade: 5
Physics 1A03 and 1AA3
Save $1200

Expert's Insight: McMaster's official IB equivalency table lists Physics HL as Physics 1A03 and 1AA3, with the general IB policy requiring a final HL score of 5 or higher. That is the starting point for every applicant. What actually lands on your transcript depends on the faculty you are admitted to, because two of ...

Dalhousie University

Halifax, NS

Min Grade: 5
Physics 1280.03 + Physics 1290.03 = 6 credit hours
Save $2052

Expert's Insight: Expert's Take Dalhousie's IB transfer credit table awards Physics 1280.03 and Physics 1290.03 for IB Physics HL with a score of 5 or higher. That is a two-course, 6-credit-hour award covering Dalhousie's first-year introductory physics package. For context, the standard first-year physics path for s...

University of Victoria

Victoria, BC

Min Grade: 6
PHYS 102A (1.5 units) and PHYS 102B (1.5 units)
Save $555

Expert's Insight: Expert's Take IB Physics HL earns a real, named credit at UVic, but the specific courses awarded are the algebra-based, life sciences physics stream, not the calculus-based sequence required by most science and engineering programs. With a score of 6 or higher, UVic's official IB Transfer Guide gran...

University of Calgary

Calgary, Alberta

Min Grade: 5
Physics 221 (3 units) and Physics 223 (3 units)
Save $1194

Expert's Insight: Expert's Take IB Physics HL yields a full two-course first-year physics sequence used across many UCalgary science programs, not a single course, but two. A score of 5 or higher earns named credit for both PHYS 221 (Mechanics) and PHYS 223 (Electromagnetism and Thermal Physics) , 3 units each, 6 uni...

University of Toronto

Toronto, ON

Min Grade: 5
PHY131H1+PHY132H1 (1.0 cr, A&S) · PHY136H5+PHY137H5 (1.0 cr, UTM) · PHYA**Y (1.0 cr, UTSC — No/No/No)
Save $659

Expert's Insight: Expert's Take IB Physics HL earns a named 1.0 FCE at UTSG and UTM, with Yes across all three restriction columns. UTSC awards the same credit volume but blocks it from every program pathway, because all physics programs there require calculus-based prerequisites that IB Physics alone cannot satisfy....

University of Alberta

Edmonton, AB

Min Grade: 6
PHYS 124 + PHYS 126 (6 units)
Save $1302

Expert's Insight: IB Physics HL can be a real advantage at the University of Alberta, but only if you treat it as strategic placement, not a free pass to skip everything. The credit you receive is generous (two full courses), but the value depends entirely on which physics stream your program actually uses. IB Physic...

University of Windsor

Windsor, ON

Min Grade: 5
PHYS-1300 + PHYS-1310 (Introductory Physics for Life Sciences I & II)
Save $1440

Expert's Insight: This award lands in Windsor’s algebra-based life-sciences physics stream, and how far it goes depends on your exact degree plan. Biology, Biomedical Sciences, the general BSc, and Forensic Science (outside the Forensic Chemistry concentration) all list the PHYS-1300 and PHYS-1310 pair in their...

University of Guelph

Guelph, ON

Min Grade: 5
PHYS 9110 (0.50 credits)
Save $720

Expert's Insight: Expert's Take Guelph awards Physics HL (5+) as PHYS*9110, a generic (unspecified) transfer credit rather than a named equivalency to any first-year Guelph physics course. The leading “9” in the course code signals a placeholder, which shapes how the credit behaves on your transcript and ...

University of British Columbia

Vancouver, BC

Min Grade: 6
PHYS_V 100 (3) + PHYS_V 1st-year level (3)
Save $1242

Expert's Insight: "A REAL 6-CREDIT BOOST: BUT WATCH FOR THE ENGINEERING & PHYSICS-MAJOR 'NO-SKIP' TRAP" The Good News (what UBC officially grants) If you score a 6 or 7 in IB Physics HL, UBC Vancouver grants PHYS 100 (3 credits) plus PHYS 1st-year level (3 credits), and lists you as exempt from PHYS 101. This is ...

Concordia University

Montreal, Quebec

Min Grade: 4
9 transfer credits toward the 120-credit Extended Credit Program (ECP); maximum 27 credits across up to 3 HL courses
Save $1620

Expert's Insight: At Concordia the value of this credit depends on your program. Concordia's IB Diploma statement admits applicants to the Extended Credit Program and awards Physics HL transfer credit toward it, but that credit reduces what you still have to complete only where Concordia assigns it to a requirement o...

University of New Brunswick

Fredericton & Saint John, NB

Min Grade: N/A
In progress

Toronto Metropolitan University

Toronto, ON

Min Grade: N/A
Not listed in TMU IB HL chart; assessed individually on application

Expert's Insight: IB Physics HL is not published in TMU's current IB Higher Level transfer-credit guide: the chart lists Biology, Chemistry, and Computer Science, but there is no Physics row. TMU does say that HL subjects completed with a 5 or higher may be considered for transfer credit on an individual basis once y...